Robert Wickens
Robert Wickens is a Canadian racing driver and member of the Mercedes-Benz DTM campaign for the 2015 DTM Championship.'Robert Wickens', dtm.com, (DTM, 2015), http://www.dtm.com/en/driver/robert-wickens?language=en-gb, (Accessed 09/05/2015)van Leeuwen, Andrew, 'Gary Paffett to lead ART's new DTM Mercedes campaign in 2015', autosport.com, (Haymarket Publications, 30/01/2015), http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/117509, (Accessed 09/05/2015) One of two Canadian drivers in the DTM, Wickens has won two races during his career, and has been a member of the Mercedes-Benz Junior Team since it was reformed in 2012.'Robert Wickens', wikipedia.org, (Wikipedia, 06/05/2015), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Wickens, (Accessed 09/05/2015) Current Season Wickens 2015 challenge started poorly at the DTM Festival that started the new season, as he retired from the first lap of the first race. In the second race of the weekend, however, he scored six points for finishing seventh. Background After a stint in karting as a child, Wickens entered his first motorcar race at the age of 16, entering Formula BMW USA with a BMW scholarship. After finishing the season in third, and becoming top rookie, He returned for the 2006 season and won the championship, while also making a series of entries into several European competitions, and the Formula BMW World Final at the end of the season. 2007 saw the Canadian enter the Champ Car Atlantic Championship, as well as the Formula Renault 3.5 Series, although his split attention prevented him taking the title in either. On to the Summit A switch to compete full time in the Formula Renault 3.5 Series followed in 2008, with Wickens taking 12th, as well as competing in the Formula 3 Euro Series at select races. He continued to enter a limited number of F3 races in 2009, after moving into the reborn FIA Formula Two Championship for the season, taking two victories. His runner-up spot in Formula Two prompted several Formula One teams to take an interest in him, with Wickens returning to Europe to compete in 2010. A 2010 campaign in the GP3 Series ended with Wickens as runner-up in the championship, before he signed to be a test and reserve driver with the Marussia F1 outfit for 2011. After one appearance in a practice session, and a successful campaign in Formula Renault 3.5 Series that ended in championship glory, Wickens was expected to become a full F1 driver for 2012, being the only North American racing driver to hold a valid Superlicence (the document required to compete in F1). Yet, surprisingly, this move did not happen, and Wickens was adopted by Mercedes for their Junior Team in 2012. DTM History Wickens was signed to be a full DTM driver before the start of the 2012 season, partnering David Coulthard at .O'Leary, Jamie, 'Robert Wickens and Roberto Merhi join Mercedes for DTM assault', autosport.com / webcitation.org, (Haymarket Publications, 02/04/2012), http://www.webcitation.org/66g1cHbap, (Accessed 09/05/2015) A mixed season saw Wickens score three points finishes over the mid-season, although the end of the year was severely hampered by retirements, seeing him finish 16th overall. Moving to the HWA AG team for 2013, Wickens enjoyed a more successful season, highlighted by his first career win at the Nürburgring near the end of the season. His fifth place overall that season earned Wickens a renewal to his contract, although a slow start to the season, hampered by the 's struggle for pace in general meant he failed to score any points in the opening three races. However, Wickens caused a stir by dominating the Norisring event, taking pole and victory in the wet. It was to be a brief moment in the sun, however, with Wickens only scoring three more points paying places before the end of the season, leaving him down in 12th in the final standings. 2015 started more positively for the Canadian challenger, with a seventh place in the second race of the weekend meaning he achieved his best result of his career in the season opening race. Full DTM Record Wickens' full results from his }} starts in the DTM are outlined in a series of tables below. DTM Entries The list below includes all of the teams and cars, as well as overall finishing positions for Wickens during his DTM career: Career Results Below is a table showing 's full DTM record. |- | | | | | | | | | | |pts = 14|pos = 16th}} | | | | | | | | | |pts = 70|pos = 5th}} | | | | | | | | | |pts = 41|pos = 12th}} |- |} References Videos and Images: *Henry Mineur, 'Robert Wickens at the 2011 Nürburgring World series by Renault round', wikipedia.org, (Wikipedia, 19/06/2011), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Wickens#/media/File:Robert_Wickens_2011.JPG, (Accessed 17/05/2015) References: Category:Drivers Category:Current Drivers Category:Canadian Drivers Category:HWA AG